SAN FRANCISCO - Google-owned YouTube has announced several new updates to the platform including the new "Premieres" feature that would allow creators to debut pre-recorded videos as a live moment. Premieres are starting to roll out to creators today and will be available broadly soon, Neal Mohan, YouTube's Chief Product Officer, said in a blog post on Thursday. "When creators choose to release a Premiere,

we'll automatically create a public landing page to build anticipation and hype up new content," Mohan added. When all fans show up to watch the premiere, YouTube will enable them to chat with each other and with the creator in real time via live chat. "It's as if a creator's entire community is in one theatre together watching their latest upload," Mohan said. "Premieres" would roll out over the next two weeks, reaching select YouTubers who were beta test partners first, The Verge reported.YouTube also announced a new "Merchandise Integration" option with which creators could make products like shirts and mugs and have their items advertised on a shelf below their video, the report added.To help businesses grow, the video-sharing app additionally notified that as part of the new updates, YouTubers could get an opportunity to be hired by brands for branded content curation with "Famebit Integration" feature.This feature does not have a set roll out date as yet. YouTube made all these announcements at VidCon US 2018 that commenced on June 20 in Anaheim, California and will continue till June 23."With more than 1.9 billion logged-in users who come to YouTube every month and localised versions stretching across 90 countries and 80 languages, we're opening up the world to anyone with a cell phone and an Internet connection," Mohan said.